This is a nationalization of PCT/RU00/00542 filed Dec. 29, 2000 and published in Russian.
The invention relates to flying vehicles, namely to aircrafts which are embodied in passenger, cargo and/or cargo-passenger variants; they solve the task of improving flight characteristics by raising the aerodynamic efficiency, improving arrangement and by simplifying operational use.
At present a great many aircraft manufacturers solve the problem of raising the efficiency of cargo- and passenger carriage, which comes in the wake of the air carriers"" demand to effect a cost saving in flights. The passenger and transport aircrafts provided with narrow- and wide fuselages are manufactured according to the traditional configuration, in which a comparatively large-span wing is to play the main role in creating a lift force while the fuselage serves, in the main, the function of accommodating the passengers and cargo A further QA""d raising of the efficiency of carriage within the framework of traditional configurations is impossible because an increase in the load-lifting capacity of such aircrafts practically leads to a proportional increase in overall dimensions, weight and fuel consumption. Various modifications introduced into new designs are normally associated with minor improvements of an L/D ratio, say, by changing the contouring and extension of the wing thereby to improve its streamlining with an approach flow cannot drastically change the situation evolved.
Besides this, in circular fuselages or those close to circular section, a high density of freight arrangement cannot be provided, a factor that results in losses of large net volumes.
Known in the art are aircraft structures of great load-carrying capacity (Cf. U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,132, 1990; German Patent 4116524, 1992; European Patent 0514650, 1992) in which a disclosure is made of a large-volume fuselage close to circular section, having several decks for various cargo/passenger compartments.
The conventional lay-outs solving the task of increasing a passenger capacity and cargo tonnage cause grave complications and make heavy the aircraft. Operation is further complicated, as is the maintenance of the structure itself and/or service of the passengers. At the same time, it seems impossible to compensate a high cost of aircraft construction during operation thereof in the aforementioned designs, because one fails considerably to improve the flying qualities of the aircraft.
Also known are aircrafts made according to the so-called xe2x80x9ccanardxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cflying wingxe2x80x9d configuration. (Cf. German Patent 2735652, 1979), which permit dispensing with a traditional fuselage and have a high L/D ratio. Nevertheless, no reduction in structural weight occurs thereat, and in the case of passenger and cargo-passenger aircrafts of small dimensions (up to 100 passengers) there is observed an obvious growth of design weights. In such aircrafts, complicated operational use is associated with the loading and unloading of cargo and passengers. Also, the aircrafts having such configurations are complexly trimmed and controlled under certain flight conditions.
The closest technical solutions to the invention, as being claimed and as set forth in the application, are those of the aircraft designs, as shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,769,358, 6,098,922, in which the so-called xe2x80x9cliftingxe2x80x9d fuselage accounts for a sufficiently great part in the composite lift of the aircraft. In the prior art configurations, as proposed, the fuselage has, in cross section, roughly an elliptical periphery with a large horizontal axis. A width of the fuselage considerably exceeds its height. Owing to the carrying capacity of the fuselage, a wing span can be reduced and, hence, wing weight and overall dimensions. A rear of the fuselage has a part being deflected so as to provide controllability and a top surface of the rear has a fin to be supplemented with aerodynamic horizontal surfaces performing the function of stabilizers.
Notwithstanding some problems dealing with the strength of a fuselage, the present construction enables one to scale down aircraft dimensions considerably, to vary arrangements thereof which are associated with a possibility of separating the fuselage into lengthwise compartments and, more importantly, the possitive aspects of traditional configurations connected with the comforts and conveniences of assembly and operational use of systems and units and also accommodation of passengers and engines lay-out can be used in said configuration as well.
However, in known U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,769,358 and 6,098,922, the implementation of configuration of the external fuselage lines is not good enough to create a really great lift force, because an elliptical cross section through the overall length of the fuselage will not secure the required streamlining by an airstream in solving this task. This defect is particularly attributed to the nose section of an aircraft where the configuration, as shown and described in the US patent, will not provide a smooth flow around without stalling under different flight conditions, take-off included.
For said tasks to be solved, an aircraft is proposed that is provided with a lifting fuselage whose width considerably exceeds its height, more particularly, the ratio of a width of the fuselage to its height is xe2x89xa72; a bottom surface in the cross section of the main and rear parts of the fuselage has a concave shape in a direction into the fuselage; the flattened bottom surface of said fuselage forepart is disposed at an angle of incidence to a longitudinal horizontal plane, in the preferable variant this angle is xe2x89xa74xc2x0; in a more preferable variantxe2x80x945-7xc2x0; the forepart of the fuselage, a plan view, has a curvilinear shape smoothly merging from a more narrow nose section with the main wide part of the fuselage having in a preferable variant, a shape close to an S-like one; the tail unit of the aircraft is implemented in the form of two fins spaced edgewise of the fuselage sidewardly of a longitudinal vertical plane and given an angle to said vertical plane, more specifically, installed angularly xe2x89xa710xc2x0; in a more preferable variant xe2x88x9220xc2x0; the longitudinal vertical sections of the fuselage are normally aerofoil profiles disposed at an angle of incidence xe2x89xa72xc2x0; the rear part of the fuselage may have a surface to be deflected with respect to a horizontal axis of rotation.